- The 136-minute documentary by the award-winning filmmaker follows six students from Ying Wa Girls’ School over a decade
- One student has accused Ying Wa and Cheung of placing what was originally promised as an internal project on public screens without her consent
Director Mabel Cheung at a showing of the film on Sunday in Whampoa. Photo: Sam TsangA documentary by award-winning Hong Kong director Mabel Cheung Yuen-ting that tracked the growth of six girls for 10 years will be pulled from Monday, amid a brewing controversy after some of those featured in the film claimed their consent was not sought for public screening.
Cheung on Sunday said she would suspend the public screening of To My Nineteen-year-old Self, while offering her apology to Ying Wa Girls’ School which commissioned the project, the pupils featured in the documentary and those who contributed to the production during the 10 years.
“I have discussed it with the school and we agreed that we should deal with these issues as we think people are more important than the film itself,” Cheung said, addressing an SCMP reporter’s question after a screening in Whampoa on Sunday.
“We wish to have space and the time to sit down and discuss it with the girls and the relevant parties.”
The row erupted after “Ah Ling”, one of the students who featured heavily in the documentary, wrote to Ming Pao Weekly and complained that it would be screened publicly without her consent.
Olympic medal-winning cyclist Sarah Lee Wai-sze also complained the film included footage of an interview Cheung did with her in 2016, saying she had never agreed the footage could be incorporated in the documentary for commercial screening.
At the centre of the saga is the 136-minute documentary, which features six secondary students from Ying Wa Girls’ School whom Cheung’s team had tracked for a decade to witness their personal journeys of self-discovery during turbulent times in Hong Kong.
Cheung, an alumna, was invited to take up the project as part of fundraising efforts for reconstruction of the elite school.
In a message to alumni on Sunday, former principal Ruth Lee Shek Yuk-yu, who earlier told media the complainant could have raised her objections earlier, expressed regret for having brought difficulties to the students and the school because of the project.
Lee, who retired in 2015, wrote: “I attach much importance to every soul that is presented in the documentary. Of them, there are students who I dearly love. I deeply regret the various difficulties brought about by the project [that I initiated] the students and the school.”
Cheung on Sunday said she believed the biggest issue was “communication errors” between the students and the production crew.
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“We have spent 10 years shooting the footage … A lot of things and the people involved have changed. There may be discrepancies between the film and education sector, and the students’ [take] on many things. We need to find out what really happened,” she said.
Major cinema chains such as Broadway Circuit, Emperor Cinemas, Golden Harvest and MCL Cinemas, as well as the documentary’s distributor Golden Scene Cinema, have removed all screenings scheduled for Monday onwards from their websites.
Speaking to the press later on Sunday, Cheung offered her apology to the school’s students, the girls featured in the documentary, and all those teachers and crew members who had contributed to the production during the 10 years.
But Cheung maintained she was surprised by Ah Ling’s accusations.
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Cheung said the girls had signed consent forms at the beginning and in the later stage of production, and were also told the film could be shown in cinemas some day.
“It was when they were Form Five and Form Six. One day, I told them the film could be shown in cinemas because we had found a distributor. One of the girls expressed reservations and Ah Ling did help persuade her [to accept]. So, we thought Ah Ling did not object to public screening,” she said.
“If there is any misunderstanding, I, as the film director, will assume full responsibility.”
Cheung said she would contact Ah Ling and explain to her in person.
She also said that as Ah Ling’s parents and younger brother had attended celebratory events, alongside the positive feedback the film garnered, it had fuelled her assumption the girl was fine with the arrangement and that the interviewees were “well protected” by them.
On Sarah Lee’s criticisms, Cheung also said she had explained the nature of the interview to the organisers when making a request to talk to the cyclist.
She also said it was her hope that the documentary could be put on public screening again “some day” after some communication.
The documentary has been shown at the Hong Kong International Film Festival, Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, the Czech Republic’s FILMASIA festival, and London East Asia Film Festival.
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Writing to Ming Pao Weekly, which ran her letter at the weekend, Ah Ling said she had been told it was meant to be an internal project and that she had “from the beginning disagreed for the film to be publicly screened no matter in whatever form”, and she had also reflected her views to the school and Cheung.
She said the school had never indicated the film could be screened publicly, private screening at cinemas or sent to take part in film festivals.
She also said she had asked to be allowed to watch the edited version before its screening, “many times either through the school or the director directly”. But her requests were not heeded.
Raising privacy concerns after an internal in-campus screening in December 2021, she said the school explained it had no intention of bypassing her because it was not possible to get six individual consents for all six participants. The school also argued her parents had signed a consent form back in 2012.
Ying Wa said that in light of the negative impact brought by the public showing of the documentary, it had reached a consensus with Cheung and the school’s Incorporated Management Committee to suspend screening from Monday to allow time for different sides to come up with a suitable solution.
It added it would continue to care about the students affected.
Cheung’s productions include her debut in 1985, The Illegal Immigrant, which won her the best director title at the fifth Hong Kong Film Awards. Her second effort, An Autumn’s Tale from 1987, scooped the best film prize at the seventh Hong Kong Film Awards.
A vice-chairwoman of the Hong Kong Film Development Council, Cheung was recently appointed to a new government body tasked with promoting and branding the city.
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Bruce Lui Ping-keung, a senior lecturer at Baptist University’s school of communication, said Cheung’s team should consider the views of Ah Ling.
“The issue is more than having written consent,” he said. “Even if it is a news documentary, we should not put it above the interest of the interviewee.”
Meanwhile, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data said it would “closely keep in view development of the matter”. As of Sunday, it had not received any complaints or inquiries relating to the controversy.
Director Mabel Cheung at a showing of the film on Sunday in Whampoa. Photo: Sam Tsang; Mabel Cheung and the participating students. Photo: Handout; A still from the documentary. Photo: Golden Scene; Director Mabel Cheung says she is surprised by Ah Ling’s accusations. Photo: Sam Tsang